Lady Gaga as (dis)simulacrum of monstrosity

Lady Gaga’s celebrity DNA revolves around the notion of monstrosity, an extensively researched concept in postmodern cultural studies. The analysis that is offered in this paper is largely informed by Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of monstrosity, as well as by their approach to the study of sign-systems that was deployed in A Thousand Plateaus. By drawing on biographical and archival visual data, with a focus on the relatively underexplored live show, an elucidation is afforded of what is really monstrous about Lady Gaga. The main argument put forward is that monstrosity as sign seeks to appropriate the horizon of unlimited semiosis as radical alterity and openness to signifying possibilities. In this context it is held that Gaga effectively delimits her unique semioscape; however, any claims to monstrosity are undercut by the inherent limits of a representationalist approach in sufficiently engulfing this concept. Gaga is monstrous for her community insofar as she demands of her fans to project their semiosic horizon onto her as a simulacrum of infinite semiosis. However, this simulacrum may only be evinced in a feigned manner as a (dis)simulacrum. The analysis of imagery from seminal live shows during 2011–2012 shows that Gaga’s presumed monstrosity is more akin to hyperdifferentiation as simultaneous employment of heterogeneous and potentially dissonant inter pares cultural representations. The article concludes with a problematisation of audience effects in the light of Gaga’s adoption of a schematic and post-representationalist strategy in the event of her strategy’s emulation by competitive artists

Toward a Multifaceted Heuristic of Digital Reading to Inform Assessment, Research, Practice, and Policy

In this commentary, the author explores the tension between almost 30 years of work that has embraced increasingly complex conceptions of digital reading and recent studies that risk oversimplifying digital reading as a singular entity analogous with reading text on a screen. The author begins by tracing a line of theoretical and empirical work that both informs and complicates our understanding of digital literacy and, more specifically, digital reading. Then, a heuristic is proposed to systematically organize, label, and define a multifaceted set of increasingly complex terms, concepts, and practices that characterize the spectrum of digital reading experiences. Research that informs this heuristic is used to illustrate how more precision in defining digital reading can promote greater clarity across research methods and advance a more systematic study of promising digital reading practices. Finally, the author discusses implications for assessment, research, practice, and policy

The economics of debt clearing mechanisms

We examine the evolution of decentralized clearinghouse mechanisms from the 13th to the 18th century; in particular, we explore the clearing of non- or limitedtradable debts like bills of exchange. We construct a theoretical model of these clearinghouse mechanisms, similar to the models in the theoretical matching literature, and show that specific decentralized multilateral clearing algorithms known as rescontre, skontrieren or virement des parties used by merchants were efficient in specific historical contexts. We can explain both the evolutionary self-organizing emergence of late medieval and early modern fairs, and its robustness during the 17th and 18th century

Modulation of endogenous beta-tubulin isotype expression as a result of human beta(III)cDNA transfection into prostate carcinoma cells.

Increases of individual beta tubulin isotypes in antimicrotubule drug resistant cell lines have been reported by several laboratories. We have previously described elevations in beta(III)and beta(IVa)isotypes in estramustine and paclitaxel resistant human prostate carcinoma cells. To investigate further the function of beta tubulin isotypes in antimicrotubule drug response, human prostate carcinoma cells that normally have very low to undetectable levels of beta(III)were stably transfected with beta(III)cDNA in pZeoSV system. An 18 bp haemagglutinin (HA) epitope tag was added at the 3\u27 end prior to cloning into the vector. Cells were transfected with pZeoSV or pZeoSV-beta(III)plasmids and selected in the presence of Zeocin. Immunofluorescent staining of the transfectant cells have shown significant expression and incorporation of HA-tagged beta(III)tubulin into cellular microtubules. Quantitation of Western blots revealed the HA-tagged beta(III)levels to be approximately 7-fold higher than the vector control cells. RT-PCR analysis confirmed the increase at the transcript level and also revealed a collateral increase of beta(II)and beta(IVb)transcripts. Cell viability assays indicated that sensitivity of beta(III)transfected cells to various antimicrotubule agents was similar to vector transfected cells: IC50 values for estramustine, paclitaxel, colchicine and vinblastine were 4 microM, 4 nM, 22 nM and 2 nM, respectively for both cell lines. Thus, overexpression of beta(III)isotype in human prostate carcinoma cells by stable transfection failed to confer antimicrotubule drug resistance to these cells. Counterregulatory increases of endogenous beta(II)and beta(IVb)tubulin isotypes in these beta(III)transfected cells may be a compensatory mechanism used by the cells to overcome the effects of elevated beta(III)levels on the cellular microtubules. These results highlight the difficulty in isolating the contribution of single tubulin isotypes in drug response studies